


The Jail Riot Job

by Maddie_Meraki



Category: Leverage
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Prison, Angst, Drama, Gen, Secret Santa 2017, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 22:28:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13086699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maddie_Meraki/pseuds/Maddie_Meraki
Summary: What starts as a normal day quickly turns upside down. What happens when the threat isn't from outside?





	The Jail Riot Job

**Author's Note:**

  * For [benjaminrussell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/gifts).



> for BenjaminRussell, hope you enjoy your holidays and this little fic! 
> 
> (Also, many thank yous to my betas Valawenel and MusingMidge77. I couldn't do this without them.)

Warden Ford was still in his office with the visiting Jail Inspector. Everyone had been on edge since the perimeter guard had quietly informed the staff the inspector was here for his yearly assessment. A negative assessment could shut down the facility completely, leaving them without jobs for the foreseeable future. 

Nothing could go wrong.  
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“Officer! CO!” One of the inmates that had just been transferred from intake was trying to get his attention. 

Correctional Officer Eliot Spencer moved closer to the inmate who stood near the phone hanging on the wall. “What do you need?” 

“This one’s broken. I can’t dial out.” He jerked his arm towards the phone.

Spencer kept his face blank. “Did you dial out collect?”

“Well, no. I’m entitled to a phone call. A free phone call! It’s my right!” 

Spencer kept his voice level. “You’re entitled to access to a phone, so you can make a call. Which you have – if you dial collect and someone agrees to pay for the charges. It’s the same for every person in here.”

One of the other inmates waiting nearby spoke up. “Look, man, just make the call or let one of us. You can’t hog the phone all day. They only got four phones and there’s a bunch of us in here.”

Once Spencer was sure there would be no more arguing, he walked closer to his post in the middle of the pod. _Unit, Spencer, you’re not supposed to call them pods anymore._

Old habits were hard to break, and when he’d started seven years ago the _housing unit_ was called a pod. A single dayroom with sixteen cells on both the left and right walls. Only he and one other CO worked this entire pod of sixty-four inmates. Well, sixty-four when they were at full capacity. Today there were only fifty-two beds filled. 

The other CO in his pod was a young guy by the name of Alec Hardison. He was a nice enough guy who ran his mouth faster than he could type, which said a lot. But Spencer didn’t complain, since Hardison’s computer skills meant he typed in all the daily logs and headcounts.

He caught Hardison’s eye from across the room, and Hardison tapped his watch. Almost shift change, then.

At the center desk, he glanced over the daily logs to ensure they were complete. He wouldn’t be responsible for slacking and causing the afternoon shift to play catch-up. 

Everything appeared in order and he dipped his head towards the door to cue Hardison to head out. He was always the first one in and last one out when he was working. It was a point of pride for him. 

The younger CO broke out into a smile and maneuvered towards the main door, not in any rush. They still had about five minutes before their relief appeared in the hallway.

Spencer did a visual sweep of the floor for any suspicious activity. Shift change was one of the more opportune times for an inmate to try something. The access door would be opening a few times and the risk a group could rush the door was ever-looming. 

However, nothing seemed unusual as Hardison hovered near the door waiting on his relief.   
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Parker was feeling good. As soon as she finished fingerprinting this inmate, she was off the clock and heading home. 

_Can’t be soon enough._

She usually liked her job, but today had been boring. No one had any hidden paraphernalia for her to find and document. 

“Keep your eyes on the wall and relax. If you try to help, it won’t take and we’ll have to start over.” She reminded the twitching female for the second time.

Once the female stopped twitching, Parker quickly finished and turned her over to the waiting guard. 

Sliding the inmate’s property into the storage locker, she grinned to herself. _Time to head home._

Passing her relief in the hallway, Parker scanned her badge to gain access to the break room so she could clock out.   
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Sophie Deveraux noticed the skin around Warden Ford’s eyes tighten just slightly as the Jail Inspector droned on about meeting the minimum bed requirements. Or was it bedding? It didn’t really matter to her, Sophie wasn’t paying attention to what was being spoken. Her skill set was in reading body language, not reading lips. 

She had worked with Warden Ford for several years now and she could see he was agitated from across the hall. Despite maintaining a strictly professional persona in her job as a counselor to inmates and staff, she had grown rather fond of the warden on a more personal level. 

In fact, there were several staff members who regularly got together at a bar after work. They made an unusual group – warden, counselor, a booking CO, and two unit COs, but they had bonded during holidays spent together. None seemed to have other family to visit, so they just spent time with each other. 

It started with Eliot Spencer and Nate Ford, as they’d been at this facility the longest. When she had become interested in Nate, Eliot was just around enough they became friends also. Then about ten months ago, the new blond in booking, Parker, and the new CO in Eliot’s unit, Alec Hardison, appeared at the bar. From the body language displayed, their sudden thirst for alcohol had to do with Eliot, but so far no one had confirmed her suspicions.  
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Parker was just sliding on her jacket as Hardison burst into the break room rambling about an inmate in his unit. Eliot appeared behind him without making any noise, as usual. For such a built man who worked out like he did, he was incredibly quiet in his movements. 

A smirk in their direction was the only sign she’d seen them. _They‘re clocking out on time today._

That was good news, as it meant there hadn’t been any trouble in the units. Although the way gossip got around she probably would have already known before the end of shift. News of the Jail Inspector had been in the building before he’d even parked his fancy black sedan.

She bounced on her tip toes as she waited for them to collect their jackets and phones from the lockers so they could all leave. Hardison was her ride since the motorcycle she usually rode was in the mechanic’s shop. 

An alarm bellowed and everyone in the room froze. 

Something was wrong. 

Hardison’s concerned voice was the only sound in the somber room. “What’s happened? That sounds like a lockdown alarm, but we only use that in emergencies.” 

Parker quickly glanced at Eliot, the most experienced one of them. He was just staring at the ceiling with that inscrutable look he had. 

_Just wait, he’ll let us know something when he’s ready._ Her toes curled as she tried to be patient.

“Everyone hears the alarm, right? Aren’t we supposed to stay where we are?” Hardison’s voice was beginning to get a little more frantic as no one said anything. 

“That’s protocol.” Eliot agreed, but Parker’s gut told her that wasn’t what they would be doing.  
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“We really shouldn’t be doing this. What if we run across whatever’s happened?” Eliot heard Hardison’s nervous whisper from about six feet down the hall. He could imagine the erratic glances being shot at every window they passed, and mentally cursed himself for allowing them to come with him instead of staying in the mostly secure break room.

Eliot refused to glance back and indicate that anything was unusual. They were currently walking past the windows to another pod and he would be damned if they saw him sweat – even under lockdown. Any weakness found by an inmate would be exploited.

“Relax, Hardison, you’re gonna upset our guests. It’s just like any other day.” He kept his voice level to inspire calm. 

Parker’s cheerful voice danced between them. “Only better! I mean, it started off boring but now we have an inspector and an alarm - all at once.”

“That’s not…Woman, how is that EVER better?” Hardison’s voice faded slightly as though he’d stopped walking in his surprise. 

Eliot scanned his badge to unlock the door and peered in to make sure everything was normal. 

Seeing Sophie resting at her desk, he stepped aside to hold open the door so the two behind him could access the main office. “C’mon, Hardison.”

As soon as Parker and Hardison were over the threshold, he stepped in and secured the door.   
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Sophie was pleased to see the three of them safe, but knew they were likely to be written up for disobeying protocol when this was all over. Especially with the Jail Inspector present. “What happened to lockdown, and staying put where you are?” 

Parker’s smile and slight bounce were the only response at first. 

Hardison was the one who spoke, however. “ _Spencer_ decided to relocate to the Warden’s office and we couldn’t let him go running around alone, now could we? Safety in numbers, and all that.” The askance look thrown said person’s way made it obvious how Hardison felt about the _relocating._

Before anything else could be said, the door to the warden’s office opened.

Warden Ford looked concerned. “Ms. Devereaux, they’ve made contact again.”  
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Sophie sat in Nate’s chair and stared at the computer monitor. Everyone else in the room were hovering behind her, also watching the camera feed on the monitor. 

She took a calming breath and pressed the button on the side of the radio. “This is Ms. Devereaux, can you hear me?”

The voice was scratchy as the radio came to life. “We’re here. So is CO Gonzalez, isn’t that right?” The grunt that followed from the speakers was sadly expected. Sophie could see on the camera feed that the poor guard had been beaten, bound, and was getting man-handled as of now. 

“Now, let’s talk about what you’re gonna do for us.” It was immediately obvious that inmate Jacob Smith wasn’t playing around.

“Yes, we should talk. I’m here to listen to you.” Sophie shot a concerned look at Nate as Inmate Smith rambled off an unreasonable list of demands they would have no way to meet. They had no guns, but she could tell from their body language just how dangerous these four inmates were.   
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Parker didn’t like the Jail Inspector or how heavy it felt in the room. The Inspector had beady little eyes and a snarl that set her teeth on edge. Plus, Sophie and Nate kept doing those silent “conversations in a single look” things and leaving everyone else out.

Hardison wouldn’t sit still and even went to typing on one of the other computers in the main office doing who knows what. Parker, Eliot, and the Jail Inspector – she didn’t bother to remember his name, he wouldn’t be around long – had followed Hardison out to leave Nate and Sophie alone to talk. 

She rushed over the few steps as Hardison gasped and whispered, horrified. “They’re gonna kill Gonzalez. They’re actually gonna do it.”

Stepping out into the room with Nate, Sophie sounded just as upset. “We have less than twenty minutes before they said time was up. We can’t meet their demands that quickly.”

“Or at all.” Nate chimed in. “I’ve called for the SWAT team, but they won’t arrive for eighteen minutes.”

Only Parker seemed to have noticed Eliot went perfectly still. The hesitation indicated he was struggling with something but his shoulders tightened up just slightly as he finally spoke. “I’ll go in. We can’t wait.” 

Parker imagined the silence that statement was met with was like the second before a bomb went off. 

Now for the carnage.

Hardison’s shriek broke the silence. “What the do you mean you’ll go in?! You can’t go in there!”

Sophie’s soft tones belied her anger. “Bloody hell you will! Those inmates are about to kill someone.”

Even that Jail Inspector had to speak up. “Absolutely not. It’s against protocol. You will wait for the SWAT team.”

Parker looked to Nate, waiting on him to set Eliot straight but he stared instead, smoke practically coming out of his ears. 

After another minute of Hardison rambling, Nate spoke. “You wouldn’t have time to get to the armory and suit up.”

The muscle in Eliot’s cheek clenched. “I know. Don’t like guns anyway. I studied enough about fighting dirty in the service. I can do this.”

Nate ignored the Inspector’s dismissive comments behind him and nodded. “If something goes wrong you’ll have to wait for SWAT to get you out.”

“I know. Eighteen minutes.” Eliot seemed confident, but the worms were escaping Parker’s stomach and climbing into her chest. 

“Eliot!” Parker had to say something. He paused before the doorway but didn’t look back. 

“You’re my ride next week, don’t forget.” She wouldn’t say goodbye. She refused. 

He nodded in understanding as he started walking again.

The quiet beep of the electronic lock to the door opening sounded too much like goodbye.  
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For the first time since Eliot had started working there, the cement walls surrounding him felt cold and overbearing. He’d always appreciated the security and strength that was built into the frame of the building, how it could withstand anything. 

Now it had to withstand an attack from within. And if he failed… Well, at least he knew the rest of them were safe now. Huddled together in the main office until SWAT arrived to clean up this mess. 

He knew he had to make a plan now, before he got to the laundry room. There were already too many variables in there.

The laundry room itself was large and held eight commercial washers and dryers. They were on the side wall with a sink and shelving unit full of chemicals on the opposite wall. The middle area was kept open so the large transport baskets could be wheeled around. 

There were four rogue inmates, including inmate Jacob Smith - who had been a soldier at one time. He was the biggest threat; that was obvious by the fact he stationed up near the back wall. The other three were no stranger to violence, but they didn’t have the strict training and same level of skill that Smith had. 

He was thankful the only items they got off Gonzalez were his radio, handcuffs, keys, belt, and badge. Guards weren’t allowed to carry anything else in the pods for just this reason. 

Still didn’t mean the inmates couldn’t have improvised weapons, including whatever was in the laundry room. The transport baskets had metal or heavy plastic framing that could be broken down and used as a club, there were washing powders and other chemicals that could threaten his senses. He also had to assume they had a shiv of some sort. Those makeshift knives were often lethal, made of toothbrushes, plastic scraps, and anything solid inmates could find, strengthen and sharpen.

As for Gonzalez, he was smarter than he was strong, often using pressure points for compliance. This was fine normally, but it needed both hands free and his mental condition was questionable – he had taken several hits and kicks to the head. Since pressure points had to be precise to be of any use, he couldn’t count on any help whatsoever from Gonzalez right now.

There were no guarantees in this situation, unfortunately.  
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His footsteps were silent as he approached the end of the corridor. He moved closer to the wall. He pressed himself against it for the last several yards so they wouldn’t have any warning. 

He took a deep steadying breath before swiping his badge over the card reader. The beep and soft click announced to the room he’d arrived.

He immediately jerked open the door and lunged at the youngest inmate in the door way. One solid punch to the kid’s jaw, and he followed through so his hand landed on the shoulder. A quick spin while holding onto that arm and shoulder sent the kid flying into his other buddy behind Eliot. The momentum pushed both inmates back into the shelving units and caused a slight collapse of washing powders onto them. They looked like drunk snowmen on the floor.

A burst of five steps and he was in front of the third inmate. He ducked the punch directed at his head and caught the guy in the solar plexus with a full body rotation punch. A follow up to the temple with his left ensured the inmate wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. 

Eliot straightened up and turned to Smith. “Just the two of us, now.” He settled into a wider stance and bent his knees slightly. Just enough to lower his center of gravity a few centimeters.

The look in Smith’s eyes was wary but defiant, edged with anger. “Suits me fine.”

Eliot waited patiently for Smith to make the first move and felt a thrill when the shiv appeared from his pocket. Now that he knew where it was he could defend against it. 

“C’mon then.” Eliot beckoned Smith closer with a motion of his hand.  
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Sophie almost groaned at what she saw Eliot doing. Taunting such a dangerous man with a shiv was less than brilliant. 

She glanced over to Nate and saw him watching as well, but looking less concerned than the rest of them. He must know a good bit about Eliot’s time in the service for that level of confidence.

Parker was sitting on the desk behind Hardison, legs folded under her and watching the feed with eagle eyes. Hardison, on the other hand, appeared the most upset out of all of them. He kept typing on his legs and leaning forward as though he could go into the computer with the feed. 

The Jail Inspector kept muttering under his breath about idiot cowboys and losing his job, pacing about the area opposite Parker. Still, Sophie wasn’t sure anyone else could hear him, so focused on staring at the camera feed. 

She joined them, tuning out the sounds of the Inspector and observing the fight. It was quick and brutal. 

Eliot deflected several blows only to step closer to Smith and the shiv. Her lips pressed tightly together as he took a direct hit and the shiv disappeared between them. Hardison was yelling enough for everyone in the room. 

After a few seconds of indeterminate movement where the two men were practically embracing they were so close, the feed froze. Only after another few seconds did she become aware that it was malfunction. 

Hardison seemed to realize the same thing and clicked the mouse a few times before they had a live feed again. 

Sophie let out a sigh as Smith suddenly fell backwards. He clutched at his stomach, blood pooling on his jumpsuit. Eliot stood over him, alive. 

Everyone relaxed as Eliot went over to un-handcuff Gonzalez before using the same cuffs to secure Smith. Despite how dangerous the man was, he fastened the cuffs in front. Eliot pulled a towel from the shelves, then bent down and applied pressure to the oozing wound. 

The SWAT team would be here any minute and this would finally be over.   
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Later that afternoon, all five of them settled around the back table at the bar. They had left the Jail Inspector to meet with the state police coming in to investigate the situation and how things could have been handled differently. 

Both Eliot and Nate had been put on administrative leave for the time being, and Parker and Hardison had gotten a simple write up for disobeying protocol during lockdown. Sophie was the only one who came out unscathed according to the job, but she knew none of them would ever forget what had happened in there. 

"You know, all of this could've ended much worse." Hardison said.

Sophie raised her eyebrows. She knew it could, everyone knew - but it was Eliot who smirked at Hardison and said, "Yeah? How's that?"

Hardison spluttered. “What do you mean, how’s that?” A suspicious look crossed his face. “People could have died, man. If they’d somehow gotten a gun or anywhere past the laundry room it would have been a mess. Poor Gonzalez as it is had to get checked out at the hospital. Or what if they’d taken the inspector as a hostage? They’d have shut down the prison for good!” 

Nate appeared far to amused. “They still might after the internal investigation.”

Parker and Eliot didn’t seem to realize how upsetting that might be. 

Hardison tried to explain. “Then we’d all have to find new jobs! I, for one, am not prepared for that.”

Sophie decided to calm him down since the others just were letting his worry run wild. “Alec, I’m sure there is nothing to worry about. Let’s just enjoy the fact we are all safe.”

The conversation shifted to Hardison rambling about something on his phone. Sophie leaned back, glanced around the table. 

Soon they would learn about the future of their jobs; but for now, their little makeshift family was together and safe. She had a glass of wine, the table held Irish whiskey for Nate, and beer for the other three. Food was spread around - she counted today a win.


End file.
